From Oklahoma to Utah

On Saturday October 26th we left Oklahoma and started our trip home. We weren't planning on leaving for at least another week, but when we found out about Kevin Thursday evening Mike went into work Friday, got permission to leave and we packed and cleaned in record time.

When the kids went to school on Friday we didn't know yet that it would be their last day. They both had great teachers that loved them. Steven's teacher Mrs. Burgener was a blessing. After Erik passed away Steven didn't want to be separated from me. He was fine until it was time to go to school and then he would throw emotional fits with lots of tears. Mrs. Burgener would gently take him and comfort him and he'd be fine soon afterwards. (The same thing happened after I ran the Ragnar. He would cry hysterically at preschool even though he usually loved being there. It took a couple weeks for him to be okay.)

Mrs. Burgener with the kids

Sarah has loved reading since she started and Mrs. Huckaby did a lot to inspire her further. In Mississippi Sarah liked to read but wasn't fond of the required testing. In Altus Sarah's teacher motivated her in a way that she loved it. In her 1st nine weeks of school she had 150% of the points she'd earned in all of 1st grade.

Mrs. Huckaby and Sarah

We try and visit every temple on our road trips and this time we got to visit the Albuquerque New Mexico temple. The grounds were apparently open, but we didn't realize it until we were driving away.

Sometime while living in Mississippi the kids learned about the Four Corners. We decided that when it was time to go home we would take the southern route so we could stop for a quick visit. Although there's some debate as to the exact location the kids ran around enough to ensure a visit to each state.

Adam in each state

Steven

Sarah

The kids wanted to do a family dogpile but I would have crushed them. 

I've noticed that it's always the small, natural things about a place that the kids like best. i.e. on our Disneyland trip their favorite part was the 2 hr trip to the beach. At Four Corners the kids found a hill next to the parking lot. They started by throwing rocks down it and then took turns sliding down it over and over again. It was one of those times I ask myself why we ever spend money on outings/gadgets when the kids are so happy with sticks and rocks. :)

After 18 hours of driving with three kids and two cats we finally made it home to Utah. We enjoyed our active duty adventure, but are grateful to be home.